The Excelsior Hotel is a family-run pub in Brompton, Adelaide, owned and operated by the Barreau family. Housed in a building dating to 1884, it's been through plenty of chapters.
2026 saw major renovations of the bistro, gaming room and kitchen, with the Front Bar & Beer Garden set to be renovated early 2027.
The building on Coglin Street has worn a few different names over the years, and for a long stretch, it was one of the most distinctive pubs in Adelaide: the Phantom Bar. Themed around The Phantom, the purple-suited comic hero known as the Ghost Who Walks, the theme wasn’t just a few pictures on the wall. Large murals and comic-book memorabilia covered the venue, there was a dedicated Phantom Pool Room, and the mask logo was even cut into the backs of the dining chairs. It was quirky, memorable, and unlike anywhere else in the city. Old regulars still ask about it today.
The Excelsior’s history is tied just as closely to Rowley Park Speedway, only a few hundred metres up the road. From 1949 to 1979, Rowley Park was Adelaide’s biggest Friday night out, known as “the place where champions gathered” and drawing crowds of up to 15,000. The routine for thousands of fans started and ended at our door: meet mates at the Excelsior, walk up to the racing, then come back after for a drink and to relive the night. Drivers, mechanics and officials became regulars too, and the whole suburb came alive on race nights. The City of Charles Sturt’s Brompton Heritage Walk plaque says: “A car couldn’t be driven from the Excelsior Hotel to the Rowley Park gates because of the crowds of people.”
What’s stayed constant through every chapter is its role as the local’s local pub, a place for a counter meal, a cold beer and a chat with a familiar face.
The Barreau family has close to 50 years of experience running pubs across South Australia. Their connection to the Excelsior itself goes back further than most people realise: the family owned and renovated this same pub three decades ago, long before it became the Excelsior locals know today. Taking it on again in recent years, and renovating it once more in 2026, has been a genuine full-circle moment for the Barreau siblings – owners Brad, Jake and Heidi and their families.
The Excelsior was built on the idea that a good pub remembers your name and your usual order. No QR codes standing between you and a proper conversation. That’s the same reason the family keeps returning to the pub game after all these years, and the same reason locals keep coming back to the Excelsior.
We’ve recently refreshed the bistro, gaming room and kitchen, with the front bar and beer garden next on the list. Drop in, or book ahead, and make the most of our great pub food, cold beer, live entertainment and weekly specials.
The Excelsior Hotel is part of the Barreau Hotel Group, alongside sister venues Lighthouse Wharf Hotel in Port Adelaide and Hotel Augusta in Port Augusta.
Same family values, same commitment to genuine hospitality, across every venue.
1 Commercial Rd, Port Adelaide SA 5015
lighthouse@bhghotels.com.au
(08) 8447 1580
1 Loudon Rd, Port Augusta West SA 5700
augusta@bhghotels.com.au
(08) 8642 2701
